


Tying Loose Ends

by catsonfire



Series: Neighbors Verse [2]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Apartments, Established Relationship, Levi kind of has a freak-out, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, a quiet freak-out but a freak-out nonetheless, an extra to Art of War, coffee tables and stairs, ruining the mood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-16
Updated: 2014-04-16
Packaged: 2018-01-19 13:08:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1470955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catsonfire/pseuds/catsonfire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Hanji, he’s been acting a little funny lately,” Levi finally said. He chewed on his lower lip, worrying it between his teeth as he thought over what he was going to say, how he was going to word things. He didn’t need to be careful around Hanji, he knew, but she was also the world’s best at taking things the wrong way. “Eren is the world’s worst liar. He deserves a fucking medal. And I can tell when he’s hiding something.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tying Loose Ends

**Author's Note:**

> For my dear Selena. I've always wanted to write this part of the story, to be honest, and I was a little sad that I left it out of the original fic BUT AYYY HERE IT IS AND I CAN FINALLY OFFICIALLY LET THIS FIC GO 
> 
> if you tell me you want me to continue a fic there's a 99% chance i will dwell on it and then actually do it about four months later so don't do that

“So I had this dream.”

Hanji quirked an eyebrow from across the café table, latte paused halfway to her lips. She sighed, took her sip, placed her cup on the table and clasped her hands out in front of her.

“You know,” he amended, eyes narrowing. “Maybe I don’t want to talk about it anymore. Don’t look at me like that, dick head. If you’re not going to take this seriously, I’m not going to talk. And no more wine-and-movie nights for you.”

“Okay,” she said, a small grin playing at her lips. She’d always said that Levi’s dreams were fairly interesting, so he felt as though she was almost mocking him. “Shoot. Tell me about this dream.”

He gave in immediately.

“It was about Eren,” Levi muttered, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back into his seat. His empty glass sat on the table in front of him, lonely and almost melancholy (when in reality he’d just been in a rush to shove down his caffeine fix—he’d overslept and Hanji hadn’t allowed him a quick stop for any coffee of any kind until they’d hit the café). “We’ve been together for six years, you know. Six fucking years. But nothing’s changed. Absolutely fucking nothing.”

“Well, he moved in with you, like, forever ago,” she murmured thoughtfully, tapping her fingers on the table. “Isn’t that good, though? A sign of a healthy relationship? You two still bicker and stuff all of the time, but you’ve got a healthy love life. And judging by your limp this morning while you were rushing to put on pants, a very healthy sex life.”

Levi shot a glare at her and glowered down at his empty glass.

“The sex is fucking incredible,” he muttered. “And in my dream everything was still the same as always. But he—“ his voice cracked and he scowled, embarrassed, before clearing his throat. When he spoke again, it was much slower, more calculated, “He left me exactly because nothing had changed. Eren’s the kind that likes change, you know? He’s always rearranging and redecorating and shit like any stereotypically gay man on public television.”

Hanji fell silent, her eyes raking over Levi. He knew he looked pathetic, sounded pathetic, and he cared about that but only so much. Maybe it was because he was insecure, maybe it was because he was overdue for some sort of psychological breakdown.

In the six years they’d been together, in the five that they’d been living together in the apartment on the first story of the very complex they’d met in, Eren had never shown any distaste towards their relationship. He didn’t seem to want anything more than what they had—they had been in many little arguments over attitude and small little actions, but nothing that had threatened their relationship as a whole.

So, nothing had come in the way of what they had, but they also hadn’t advanced at all.

“Well, I mean, six years is quite a long time,” Hanji said at last. “Maybe it is about time for a little change? I mean—haven’t you two talked about marriage?”

Levi sank down into his seat.

“Not really,” he mumbled. At Hanji’s critical stare, he cleared his throat. “I mean, we have, but not terribly seriously. And it’s always him asking the questions, and he changes the subject before I can ask him how _he_ feels about it.”

“It sounds to me like he wants it, and he’s feeling you out to see if you do, too.”

“But what if he’s not?”

Hanji rolled her eyes before taking a long sip of her latte. She placed it on the table and turned the glass in her hands a few times, eyes on the foam as it swayed with the liquid. Levi watched as she took in a deep breath, likely contemplating the situation, playing therapist. After years of knowing her, he’d resigned to telling her all of his problems when they arose, rather than let her find out on her own. He might have procrastinated with this one a little.

“Hanji, he’s been acting a little funny lately,” Levi finally said. He chewed on his lower lip, worrying it between his teeth as he thought over what he was going to say, how he was going to word things. He didn’t need to be careful around Hanji, he knew, but she was also the world’s best at taking things the wrong way. “Eren is the world’s worst liar. He deserves a fucking medal. And I can tell when he’s hiding something.”

“Let’s be real, that boy doesn’t know how to hide surprises for shit, though,” Hanji interjected, grinning. “Like, he seriously thought it’d be a good idea to hide one of your presents in the mug cabinet? Does he even realize how much coffee you drink?”

“Not the point.” Levi glared and Hanji smiled sheepishly. “The point is he’s been acting like this for a while. I don’t know what it is, but I know he hasn’t outright lied to my face or anything. He’s just . . . Keeping something to himself.”

Hanji tapped her chin with her finger, watching Levi with eyes not entirely focused on him. She was close to lost in thought, analyzing her details, likely, thinking through the options. There were plenty, Levi was sure, but honestly he was scared of the reality. He didn’t know what he wanted it to be, or what he thought it could be.

He’d never taken Eren as the kind to be unfaithful. Eren had at least a little more control than that, more dignity. Levi doubted he could find the time to cheat, anyway. He’d been promoted to manager of the game store (it was incredible, and maybe even a little hard to believe, but he still worked there) after Annie had been promoted to a corporate office. Being a manager, which Eren had heavily underestimated, took up more of Eren’s time than one would expect. When he wasn’t at work, he was usually with Levi, too. Eren didn’t need to lie about where he was. Levi felt like he could easily scratch out ‘cheating’ as even a possibility.

“Levi,” Hanji said softly, and he suppressed a groan. “You are a thirty-six year old man having a romantic crisis over your twenty-seven year old boyfriend.”

“I’m aware, shit stain.”

“Don’t interrupt!” she chastised, narrowing her eyes. “Your twenty-seven year old boyfriend who has been nothing but loyal and good to you.”

“Get to the point—“

“If you have any reason to believe that he doesn’t want to be with you for the rest of his life, I think you two need to sit down and have a talk,” she stated gently, reaching out to pat the back of his hand. For once, Levi though, she was actually taking the situation seriously.  “You’ve lost relationships over shitty communication. You and I both know you don’t want that to happen with Eren.”

Levi huffed an indignant little breath and crossed his arms over his chest. He watched the brunette across from him, glowing with the reality that she’d been helpful or done something right, and couldn’t help but smile just a little.

Eren had been good for him—and he still was.

“Talk to him about it, sweetheart,” Hanji said, smiling fondly at Levi. “See what you can get out of him, yeah? There’s no harm in it. And if he’s doing anything stupid, I’ll bury the body for you.”

Snorting, Levi snagged the half-empty latte from across the table and downed the rest of it, ignoring Hanji’s protests. He smirked, wiping the foam from his lips as he placed the glass back down in front of her, watching the conflicting emotions flicker across her features. Finally, she settled on pouting before flagging down a waitress and ordering another one, as well as a mug of black coffee for Levi.

When their drinks were served and they were both content once again, Hanji smiled too innocently and too happily for Levi’s taste.

“So now that your little disaster is out of the way for the time being, am I allowed to start talking about how fucking cool it is to be a manager of my own building? I have to introduce you to my assistant manager Moblit! He’s the cutest thing ever.”

 

_+_

_“It’ll work, trust me.”_

_“Where, though?”_

_“Well, where did you two first meet, again?”_

_“. . . Right outside of his apartment.”_

_“Then right there!”_

_“Armin, I don’t think—“_

_“It’ll work. Stop worrying about it, okay? You two are so sickeningly in love. He’s reacted positively to the questions, right?”_

_“Well, yeah, but maybe he was just saying that to sate me—“_

_“Oh shut up, Eren.”_

 

Eren shifted his weight from side to side, fingers twiddling with the hem of his shirt. His nerves were erratic and he felt nearly out of breath despite standing stationary.

He stood exactly where he and Levi had met—in front of their shared apartment’s front door, right beside the stairs leading to the second floor. The lobby was mostly dead, save for Marco, sitting ever-dutifully at his reception desk, sorting papers and humming a tune under his breath. The man had yet to notice him, but Eren watched him to pass the time, grinning to himself over some of Marco’s odd mannerisms (like licking his finger before flipping _every_ single page). Every once in a while, the light would catch the silver band on Marco’s left ring finger and Eren would feel an all new wave of anxiousness well up and over him.

Marco and Jean had been married for years. It was ridiculous, especially considering Eren had been stuck listening to Jean spout off about their married life for three years before he’d gotten a job up in corporate with Annie. Rather than sit at a desk all day, Eren had opted for management, and had been lucky enough to snag it. He liked it, of course, having a new staff (all save for Sasha, who had stuck around all six years, amazingly enough), but most of the perks included _not listening to Jean all day_.

He could do this. He could fucking do this. No matter how little confidence he had, he could do this.

Slipping a hand into his pants pocket, he sighed and shifted his weight again. His fingers found the ring, no fancy case or elegant wrapping, and he turned the band in his hand a few times, a smile turning up the corners of his mouth.

 _He’ll be here soon, and this will work,_ he thought, peering back behind him. _At least it better. I’d hate to have gone out and bought a ring, and a brand new coffee table to wedge between the stairs in the wall all for nothing._

In hindsight, he decided that the coffee table wasn’t the smartest idea he’d ever had.

In fact, it wasn’t the cleverest. Convenience had played its part, though, and he’d heard Levi complain about how one of the legs on their current coffee table (one that Levi had owned for nearly ten years now, ridiculously enough) was wobbly. They needed a new one. Eren needed to be endearing enough to make Levi say yes. This was going to work.

The first time the lobby front doors swung open, Eren jumped and swallowed hard, steeling himself to turn and see Levi approaching. His heart dropped down into his stomach almost as quickly as it had jumped into his throat and he relaxed. Roughly, he tugged his hand out of his pocket and swore under his breath as the lady who’d entered the complex in Levi’s place strode right on past him and straight to a different set of stairs.

The second time the lobby doors opened, he was expecting the same thing.

He nearly dropped to the floor in a dead faint when it definitely _was_ Levi this time, eyebrows raised the moment he spotted Eren and that goddamn coffee table behind him. His steps only faltered for a second, at least that Eren noticed, and then he was heading towards Eren at full speed, confusion and slight irritation coloring his features rather nicely.

“So,” Levi said as he stepped up to Eren, stopping just a few steps in front of him. He rested a hand on his hip and looked Eren over once, and then a little past Eren to the coffee table wedged between the stairs and the wall. “This brings back memories. What in seven hells are you doing, you stupid baby penguin?”

Eren grinned, and he was sure his nervousness was dissipating.

“You said we needed a new coffee table, right?” he asked. He tilted his head back to the coffee table. “There you go.”

“It’s kind of useless wedged, you know, _outside of our apartment_ , though, I mean, I don’t know if you noticed.” Levi smirked up at him, taking a step closer. The nerves were back again. “Come on, you idiot. Was this your way of trying to be romantic or something?”

“Is it working?”

Levi chuckled as Eren snagged his sleeves and pulled him close. The brunette wound his arms around Levi, pressing a soft little kiss to his temple, before the older man spoke.

“I suppose so,” Levi replied, voice soft, a tone he usually saved for slow mornings or those few minutes after sex, late at night, when they’d be cuddling and on the verge of sleep. He almost sounded relieved. “I think you might want to step up your game, though. You’re getting old fairly quickly, Jaeger. Can’t let that youthful charm fly away from you too quickly.”

“You’re one to talk, old man.” Eren snickered at his own terrible joke, nuzzling his way against Levi’s neck. The ring in his pocket wasn’t left forgotten, just postponed. He definitely wasn’t procrastinating his own proposal. Not at all. “Speaking of old people, though, how was Hanji today? Did you two have a nice little coffee date?”

Levi delivered a sharp pinch to Eren’s hip before pulling away a little. He ran a hand through his hair while Eren squeaked, rubbing the sore spot under his shirt, smirking a little.

“She was fine—“

Levi cut himself up, staring up at Eren with wide eyes.

It seemed like Eren’s nerves were going to come back to him innumerable times throughout the day. He swallowed thickly as Levi’s expression flowed smoothly from one of surprise, maybe shock, to something unreadable, and finally annoyance.

There were many things Eren had learned over time from being with Levi for so long. He could tell, most importantly, based on one or two glances, just the slightest tilt of the corner of Levi’s lips and even the height of his eyebrows how in trouble he was. He was also fairly good at figuring out what he had done wrong the moment he realized he _had_ done something wrong. Now, though, with Levi practically scowling at him, he was at a loss. His lips parted and the beginnings of a sentence prepared themselves on the tip of his tongue, but a palm met his lips to silence him.

“Don’t you dare tell me you’ve been acting funny for the last God-knows-how-long over a goddamn coffee table,” Levi muttered, eyes narrowed. He looked positively murderous, his words threatening and noxious. Eren felt himself swallow again. “I’ve been worrying about what’s got you acting funny for ages. You have no idea how long you’ll be sleeping on the couch—“

“Why didn’t you just ask me?” Eren asked, blinking once. “I mean, if it’s been bothering you for so long—“

“Don’t turn this against me—“

“Levi.”

Levi’s mouth snapped shut, eyebrows raised once again as he watched Eren. He didn’t take kindly to being interrupted or hushed, but drew in a long, steadying breath to prepare him for what was ahead. Their stupid little arguments practically made them up as people, sure, but now wasn’t exactly the time.

“Honestly, there is something else,” Eren murmured, hand slipping into his pocket. “Um. Something I’ve been working on for a while, I guess you could say.”

His fingers grabbed for the ring and he was secretly glad that Levi’s eyes were still trained on him. He missed the way the ring slipped from Eren’s fingers and he dove for it again, palm sweating and clammy. His face was on fire, heart pounding heavily in his chest in a way that frustrated him to no end.

Six goddamn years and he still couldn’t keep his composure.

 _This is a really big deal,_ he reminded himself as he finally got a good grip on the ring. He felt a little sick. What if Levi said no? What if all of this had been for nothing? What if he got cold feet and pulled something out of his ass? _He knows when you lie; sweet Lord does he know when you lie. You couldn’t even hide this from him—so much for acting natural. Good job, Eren. Good job._

“Spit it out,” Levi murmured. He took a step back from Eren, looking him over once more, eyes lingering on the hand in his pocket before steely silver eyes met Eren’s. “Before I start thinking you’re cheating on me or something stupid like that.”

“Oh, God, no,” Eren choked out, hardly haring his own words through the pounding in his ears. He held the ring closely in his fist as he pulled it out of his pocket, chewing on his lips as he watched Levi. “I wonder if this could constitute as the complete opposite?”

“You’ve got to be more specific than that, kid.”

 _Still calls me a kid,_ Eren thought, grinning a little now. He was still nervous, palms still sweaty, stomach still twisted in knots, but he was more confident. He felt like The Little Engine That Could, inwardly chanting, _I know I can, I know I can, I know I can—_

He tugged Levi closer again, even though Levi glared at him for it. In a swift motion, he sank down into a kneel, one knee touching the ground and supporting his weight. He bit back a quiet chuckle at the way Levi’s eyes widened (and how he thought maybe they’d start bugging out of his skull if he tried any harder), instead focusing on how to stop the shaking in his hand as he lifted it towards Levi. He opened his hand, the simple silver band resting in his palm. It was plain, aside from a simple little diamond imbedded into the center, shining nicely up at Levi.

“Not the best ring in the world, but I think a fellow public service worker can understand why,” Eren said, willing his voice to shake less, willing the lump in his throat to just go down already. The way Levi looked at him made him want to cry. “God, I don’t care how corny this is gonna sound—I love you so much. I love you more than anything in this entire stupid world, you know? And there’s nobody else I’d rather live out the rest of my life with, even if it’s mostly just working in retail and making fun of old movies with you on our days off.”

Eren swallowed, voice cracking at the last word. He kept his eyes trained on Levi, who was still staring at the ring in Eren’s hand. He’d hardly moved, only looked progressively more shell-shocked by the second.

Truthfully, Eren wasn’t even sure if he was still listening, but he continued anyway.

“I’m gonna get gross and old one way or another, so I’d rather just get gross and old with you. Are you listening?”

Slowly, Levi nodded once, a hand moving to his mouth to hide the way his lips parted, jaw hanging slack. Eren supposed he could put this down as a personal record or achievement.

“Will you marry me, Levi?”

“Holy shit,” was Levi’s whispered response as he sank down to his knees in front of Eren. “I didn’t expect to come home to a cooked lunch, much less you awake and proposing and definitely not on our couch asleep and drooling.”

“Is that a yes?”

“Of course it’s a yes, you noisy bastard,” Levi muttered, leaning forward to rest his forehead on Eren’s shoulder. “And before you ask, I’m not crying.”

“You’re so crying. Let me see!”

“I’m not crying!”

When Levi finally pulled away, his eyes were red and puffy but he was, indeed, not crying. He pulled a face when he accidentally offered the wrong hand to Eren, though neither said a word as Eren gently grabbed his left hand and slipped the pretty silver band onto his ring finger. They stayed like that, on the ground outside of their apartment, admiring the ring, admiring each other, before Levi tugged the brunette to his feet. Instead of moving away, though, he wound his arms around Eren’s waist, resting his head on the younger man’s chest.

“Asshole,” he mumbled, fingers rubbing affectionate little circles into his back, despite the annoyance in his tone. “I swear I’m going to have to call Hanji after this. We were literally talking about marriage earlier.”

Eren snorted.

“And she didn’t say anything?” he asked, one arm wrapped around Levi’s shoulders and the other toying through his hair. “I’m impressed. She’s known I’ve been planning this for months.”

“I’m going to kill her.”

“Please don’t. She helped pick out the ring and everything.”

“ . . . I’ll let her live this time.”

“Good.” Eren chuckled. He angled his head down, kissing Levi slowly, gently, before he finally pulled back and dug the key to their apartment out of his back pocket. “Now, if you’ll work your almighty magic and get the coffee table un-stuck, because I did a pretty damn good job this time around, I’ll get the door open and help you carry it in.”

Levi nodded, a little disinterested in the coffee table as he walked over to it, mostly just staring down at the ring on his finger with a small smile. Eren chuckled, turning to unlock the door.

“Eren,” he heard Levi mutter after a moment, the door successfully opened. “Eren, it’s stuck.”

“Well, no shit, it’s supposed to be,” Eren murmured, turning to raise an eyebrow at his fiancé (he smiled at the thought). “It’s in there the same way my old one was.”

“No, I mean it’s _stuck_ , numbnuts.” Levi glared at him over his shoulder. “Literally fucking stuck. I can’t get it out.”

“Oh. Well, shit.”


End file.
